[Lessons from the 116 years (1902-2018) of history of the Japanese Society of Neurology in establishing its identity].

The Japanese Society of Neurology and Psychiatry was founded in 1902 as a joint society of Neurology and Psychiatry, but was renamed the Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology in 1935 because of the stagnation of activities of Neurology and the rise of those of Psychiatry. After World War II, activities of Neurology were restored and the Japanese Society of Neurology (JSN) independent from the Societies of Internal Medicine and Psychiatry was established in 1960 after overcoming many difficulties. In 1975, neurology was approved by law as one of the specialized fields of medicine. After that, neurology and JSN developed dramatically, both in research and medical practices. As of 2018, JSN had 9,000 members and more than 5,500 board-certified neurology specialists. JSN successfully hosted the World Congress of Neurology twice in 1981 and 2017. In 2002, JSN accepted the offer to join the Japanese Board of Medical Specialties as one of the subspecialties of Internal Medicine. In 2018 JSN enacted a new policy to upgrade the neurology specialist from a subspecialty of Internal Medicine to an independent major medical field. Lessons of the 116 years of history of the Society would teach us a sensible way to achieve the goals.